“You had to know that Russo Enterprises has a reputation. You’ve been working here for two years. Are you really that surprised?” Dominic had always seemed to float more on the morally gray side of things. When it came to potential clients or business ventures he was a bulldog, okay with bulldozing people out of his way to better the company.
Dominic gave a heaving sigh, “I’m not surprised—I don’t think. But seeing it in front of my face is different than understanding it.”
“Then what are you so worried about? Would you rather I just let him go onto the street after he broke into our house?” And tried to hurt Eloise. I added silently. Just for that I knew that this man would not have a happy ending if I had anything to do with it.
“No. Definitely not. But I think if you all made more of an effort to include me in these things, I would be better at managing my reactions to things.” This had been his argument for the two years that he’d been with us. I couldn’t help but agree with him. Dominic had shown over the past two years that he was trustworthy and had become a part of our pack. I genuinely liked him as a person, which was a rare thing for me. It was Leon who was still holding him and Owen at an arm’s length. I had no idea how to convince Leon to open himself up to others like he had with me and later on, Ric.
We rode the rest of the way up in silence and when we stepped into the quiet lobby, only one night security guard was sitting at his desk scrolling on his cellphone. I grabbed Dominic’s arm and forced him to look at me, “Look, I’m not disagreeing with you but you just have to be patient with Leon. It takes him a while to open up to others.”
Dominic scoffed and jerked his arm out of my grasp, “You are correct about that Gage. But how much longer do I have to wait? Ten years? Twenty? I joined your pack because I thought it would be a place for me to fit in.”
He opened his mouth to add something else but closed it, and turned away from me. “I’m going to head out on my own. See you back at the house.”
I watched him exit through the lobby doors and get into a dark uber which pulled away from the curb and into the night. I watched him go, wondering if all of the changes in our pack were what was causing us to break apart or if the cracks had been there for a long time and were beginning to grow wider and wider as we pushed our relationship with Eloise further.
I was just as angry about the intruder as everyone else. I’d been in the kitchen when I heard everyone’s footsteps thumping up the stairs and shouting as Leon completely pummeled the man who had broken in. But the other emotion that had quickly taken over the anger was panic. The man who had snuck into the house was Dimitri Volkov—nephew to Alexei Volkov and my connection with the Volkov crime family. I’d spent three hours pacing outside of the hallway sure tha Dimitri was going to break and spill out my involvement with the Volkov’s.
But luckily for me the bastard had kept his mouth shut. It was too close for my comfort. As I sat in my uber which was driving across the bridge back towards the house my thoughts went back to Eloise’s ragged breathing and wild, terrified eyes. I never wanted to make her feel like that again. I didn’t know her very well but everything inside of me revolted against the thought of Volkov even looking in her direction.
With that thought in mind I opened up the burner cell phone in my pocket and pressed the one key. The phone rang once, twice, three times before clicking.
“I was wondering when you would be calling me.” Alexei Volkov had a thick russian accent that belied his age. The man was pushing seventy and had smoked daily cigars for most of that. “Where is my nephew? I sent him on an errand and he has yet to return.”
“I told you the omega is off limits Volkov. Your nephew was caught trying to abduct her. There is no saving him, you may as well write him off.” I wanted to pummel the idiot’s face in myself.
“I see…” Alexei’s growl was clear over the phone and had I not also been an alpha I’m sure my knees would have buckled under that growl.
“Also,” I gripped the seat and continued, “I’m done. I’m cutting you off—I don’t want to have anything to do with you or the Volkov family.”
It was the right thing to do. I should have done it three weeks ago when Eloise came to live with us. That had changed things, I didn’t quite know how yet but I knew things would never be the same in the Russo house.
A dry chuckle curled out of the speaker of the phone, “How adorable that you think you can just back out of our deal. I pay you a salary young man, you are employed by me.”
“Keep your money. I don’t want to have anything to do with this.” I hung up the phone and rolled down the window, chucking it out onto the freeway where a car would no doubt crush it. I was done playing double agent. I was going to do my best to fit into Pack Russo and hope that I hadn’t damaged anything irreversibly.
20
The sound of Gage’s rumbling snore woke me. I was laying in my new nest, curled against my gentle giant’s side as he slept. Owen and Leon were gone and light streamed through the circular window telling me that it was probably late morning or early afternoon. The fear from last night had made my joints sore and stiff, it felt a bit like I’d gone through a trash compactor.
I stared at Gage’s sleeping face, his beard needed a trim and he had bags under his eyes. His hair, which was normally tamed by a hair elastic, was fanned out around his head on the pillow. He truly looked like a sleeping lion. I reached up and ran a finger down the bridge of his nose and down his cheek, watching him twitch in his sleep.
I loved him.
The thought barreled into me and there was no denying it. I had never had feelings like this for another human being before—even my feelings for Link were colored by the rose-colored glasses of childish innocence. This was here and present and now. Ever since I arrived Gage had gone out of his way to make me comfortable, watching my needs and wants. He’d protected me from someone in my past who had hurt me and made sure they couldn’t ever hurt me again. The idea that I loved him was staring me straight in the face and who was I to ignore it? Instead I waited for the guilt to begin to nibble away at the edges of this feeling, like a flesh eating disease. But it never came. Instead I felt Gage’s breath hitch under my body and his eyes opened and he looked at me drowsily.
“Mornin’” he mumbled sleepily, his hand finding the small of my back and began to rub little circles there. I was in heaven.
“Good morning, thank you for the nest.”
“Y’welcome.” It was adorable how it took him a long time to wake up in the mornings, he usually woke up before I did so this was a special treat.
“I want to kiss you.”
That woke him up quickly enough. Gage blinked at me a few times as if he were still dreaming before sitting up and bringing me with him. I perched in his lap and placed my palm flat on his chest, feeling his heart rate speed up under my touch.
“Say that again.” He ordered and I grinned and complied:
“I want to kiss you.”
